Likely Normal

The seemingly simple act of proving one’s humanity online has devolved into a gauntlet of increasingly bizarre and often infuriating visual puzzles. We are routinely asked to identify blurry crosswalks, distorted street signs, and the ever-elusive sliver of a bus hidden behind a pixelated mess. CAPTCHAs are the digital equivalent of a bouncer squinting at your ID under a blacklight while asking trick questions like “Which of these 12 blurry squares contains a traffic light that may or may not exist?” What started as a simple “Type these wobbly letters” test has evolved into a full-blown IQ exam for the right to comment “First!” on a YouTube video. And let’s be honest: half the time, you’re just guessing. “Is that a fire hydrant or a tiny giraffe? Only my 7th attempt will tell!”

The irony? These tests are supposed to stump robots, but they’ve somehow become easier for AI than for actual humans. Meanwhile, you’re sitting there like, “I swear I clicked all the bikes, but apparently that shadow counts as a unicycle?” And just when you think you’ve passed, the website hits you with “Now prove you’re not a robot by identifying every storefront in this 2005 Google Street View image.” Congrats! You’ve just spent 3 minutes training an AI to one day replace you.

So yes, CAPTCHAs are a necessary evil—but they’re also the Internet’s way of reminding you that you are the weakest link in the human-machine war. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go fail “Select all images with a crosswalk” for the fifth time.